172 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 256 



Table 2. — Increase in Expenditures, by Jurisdictions, 1912-1926. 



Increase for 



r Identical Towns 



Increase 

 Jurisdiction „ ^ awd Cities as 



Per cent ^, 



Classified in 191S 



Per cent 



Central State Gov't 228.7 



Counties 283.5 



Cities 2'57.0 247.3 



Towns over 5,000 293.6 304.1 



Towns under 5,000 246.3 311.7 



Total 257.2 



grows to more than 5,000 population, expenditures are reported under the 

 new classification. Therefore the annual figures for the three groups are not 

 always conipiarable. From 1910 to 1926 the number of cities increased from 

 33 to 39; towns ov-^r 5,000 population increased from 71 to 79; while towns 

 under 5,000 population decreased from 249 to 237. 



In order to show the true increase in expenditures for each group, tabu- 

 lations were made according to the classification of cities and towns in 1912. 

 The second column in Table 2 i& the more significant since it shows the in- 

 crease in expenditures for groups of identical citites and towns. 



From the table it will be seen that total expenditures increased two and 

 one-half times from 1912 to 1926, while town expenditures trebled. The in- 

 crease was greatest for small towns, and least for the State. The percentage 

 increasie for counties, while large, is not significant &s counties spend less 

 than three per cent of the total. (Table 2) 



hicrease vn Expenditures Per Ca/pita 

 Due to the changes within the municipal groups, increases in expendi- 

 tures per capita are more significant than increases in totals. The increase 

 in expenditures per capita for each group from 1910 to 1926 is shown in 

 Table 3. 



Table 3. — Total Expenditures per Capita. 



Jurisdiction 1910 1926^ Increase 



Per sent 



Central State Gov't $ 5.67 $12.02 112.0 



Counties 1.08 2.38 120.A 



Cities 33.11 75.58 128.3 



Towns over 5,000 26.64 64.48 H2.0 



Towns under 5,000 19.68 59.04 20i.6 



Towns under 1,000 18.82 68.59 26A.5 



Total for the State 37.51 86.14 129.6 



'■On the basis of 1925 population according to the State Census. 



On this basis the cost of government has increased a great deal more in 

 sinaU towns than in the larger towns and cities^ In a general way, expendi- 

 tures per capita have tended to increase in inverse relation to the size of the 

 town. This is shown grapliically on Chart 2. Expenditures by the State 

 and by counties have increased relatively less than for any otlier group. 



